Donald Fehr Officially Named Head Of NHLPA

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After months of waiting, former MLBPA chief Donald Fehr was officially named the Executive Director of the NHL Players' Association on Saturday. So what took so long?

Here's Fehr, speaking on a conference call this weekend, via NHL.com:

"This process took a while because from the players' standpoint, they wanted to be sure and, from my standpoint, I wanted them to be sure that they had made a decision that they were comfortable with, that all the players had an opportunity to have their say and that this judgment represented a consensus view of the entire membership," Fehr said Saturday afternoon during a conference call. "It has. That's both quite an honor and it is also quite humbling."

Fehr, 62, will lead the Players into negotiations with the NHL when the current collective bargaining agreement expires following the 2011-2012 season. Talks won't begin on a new CBA for a few months, but Fehr pointed out his hope that the situation would not end in another work stoppage.